The Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility Fellowship

Sara Morelli, MD, PhD Program Director

On behalf of the REI Division at Rutgers – New Jersey Medical School, welcome!

In parallel with comprehensive clinical and surgical training, the REI Fellowship at Rutgers -NJMS provides fellows with a structured and rigorous education in basic science, translational and clinical investigation. Our robust research programs offer the fellows an opportunity to participate in and manage a large variety of research protocols under the mentorship of renowned REI faculty clinician-investigators.  Our fellows benefit from interdisciplinary NIH-funded research collaborations; ongoing and new collaborations afford the fellows opportunities to engage with scientists from across Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences and from other institutions.  While on research rotations, fellows regularly attend lab meetings held within and outside the Division.  A large core laboratory is in operation within the Division, encompassing all reproductive hormone immunoassays, molecular biology, tissue culture and a variety of technical equipment suitable for biomedical research.  Our investigators, including the fellows, also have access to all the Core Facilities at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences to facilitate their research.

The clinical base of the fellowship is University Reproductive Associates (URA), a free-standing patient care facility located in suburban Bergen County, through which approximately 400 IVF cycles and 500 gonadotropin or clomiphene IUI cycles are managed annually by fellows and staff. Our physicians have a busy surgical practice, including two robotic surgeons.  Our program’s surgical volumes afford the fellow a robust training experience in a breadth of reproductive surgeries.  In addition to URA, our fellows staff a once weekly REI clinic at University Hospital in Newark under the supervision of REI faculty.  This clinic serves a diverse population of women referred for management of complex reproductive endocrine disorders. 

A key component at the program is a sincere commitment to protected research time, allowing the fellow to finish with a published thesis project and the skills to maintain a productive ongoing research career. To this end, the entire first year is 90% protected for research.  Years two and three are divided between research and clinical time, with rotations through our own busy clinical REI practice, Clinical Genetics, Pediatric Endocrinology and Male Infertility at Hackensack University Medical Center and our University Hospital-based clinics in Newark for REI and Medical Endocrinology.

Our faculty are highly dedicated to supporting the career development of REI Fellows.  Fellows are encouraged to take their General OB/GYN Certifying exams during Fellowship, and are given free time and support to attend multiple national and international scientific meetings to present their work, network with peers and colleagues, and participate in various career development workshops and forums. Thus, the overall scope and versatility of both research and clinical venues remain the most attractive features of Rutgers - New Jersey Medical School's REI Fellowship Program.  Our graduates are REI subspecialists who possess the skills to become future leaders in the field, and who deliver state of the art care for women with infertility and complex REI disorders.

Sara Morelli, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
Program Director

REI Fellowship Faculty:

Sara Morelli, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
REI Fellowship Director
REI Division Director

Jacquelyn Loughlin, MD
Associate Professor

Nataki Douglas, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
Director of Translational Research

Anat Chemerinski, MD, PhD
RBHS Instructor

Peter McGovern, MD
Clinical Professor and Associate REI Fellowship Director

Michael Cho, MD
Clinical Associate Professor

Adam Fechner, MD
Clinical Associate Professor

Kavitha Persuad, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor